CoStar Group, a global giant in commercial real estate information and analytics, is jumping into the residential world. The company announced it will purchase Homesnap Inc. for $250 million in cash.
Homesnap provides residential real estate brokers with apps and technology for managing listings. About 300,000 residential real estate professionals use Homesnap, averaging 30 times a month. Homesnap’s revenue this year is expected to top $40 million, a 45% increase over a year ago.
Continue… https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2020/11/24/commercial-giant-takes-step-into-residential-data-business

Due to rising home prices, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday that it would raise loan limits for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
In most of the country, the 2021 maximum conforming loan limit for single-family properties will be $548,250. That marks a 7.4% increase from last year’s limit of $510,400. The FHFA’s loan limits define the maximum amount that Fannie and Freddie can finance for a one-unit single-family home.

Continue…https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2020/11/25/fhfa-increases-conforming-loan-limits-for-2021

No doubt, 2020 has been a uniquely challenging year. With unemployment still above pre-pandemic levels, the country coming to terms with longstanding racial inequities, Americans worrying about natural disasters and coming off a contentious national election, and the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, people are searching for reasons to feel gratitude this Thanksgiving.
The housing market has emerged as an economic bright spot. While the nation continues to feel the widespread effects from 2020’s turmoil, here are a few things the real estate industry can be grateful for this year.
Continue… https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2020/11/25/what-real-estate-has-to-be-grateful-for-in-2020

Home Buyers Increasingly Seeking Friendly Neighbors

November 23, 2020

As people spend more time at home, freed from long commutes and constant activity, they are discovering their priorities are shifting. Home shoppers are increasingly placing more weight on the neighborhood and how neighborly it feels since the pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Real estate professionals told WSJ they’ve noticed that buyers are changing the way they shop for homes, and neighbors have emerged as a critical factor in their home search.

Sixty-nine percent of 2,500 Americans recently surveyed by Improvenet say they’ve gotten to know their neighbors better during the pandemic. Sixty-five percent say they’ve made an effort to be more friendly than usual. Further, 57% say their neighbors have helped to fill the void of visiting with friends and family during the pandemic. More than half also said they’ve had at least one socially distanced gathering with neighbors.

At-home workers are looking to replace water cooler mingling with co-workers from the office now with strolls around the neighborhood. The Wall Street Journal reports that driveway cocktail parties are filling the social gap that live events once did too.

“Neighborhoods are just so much more important now,” Francie Malina, of the Francie Malina Team in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., told WSJ. She says buyers are showing more interesting in belonging to a neighborhood, whether for socializing or organizing children’s learning pods for remote learning.

Real estate pros can’t offer personal details about a neighborhood, however. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, religion, and many other factors. So real estate agents can’t respond to buyers’ questions on the demographics of particular neighborhoods.

Dana Bull, a real estate pro with Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty in Marblehead, Mass., encourages her buyers to learn more about the neighbors by talking to them. “You’d be surprised at how candid neighbors can be,” Bull told The Wall Street Journal. She will urge her buyers to even write letters and emails to neighbors to ask questions before buying, or joining Facebook neighborhood groups to learn more.

“A lot of people can’t stand where they’re living now,” Helen Pederslie, a broker with Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty in Bellevue, Wash., told The Wall Street Journal. “They want to feel part of a community.” That may help explain why home sales are surging as Americans look to change residences: Home Sales Are on Fire, Up 27% From a Year AgoSource: “Homebuyers During COVID Say It Takes a Village to Find a House,” The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 19, 2020) [Log-in required.]

For the fifth consecutive month, existing-home sales continued to be resilient in the face of the pandemic, climbing nearly 27% compared to a year ago, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday.
Also reported this week, construction of single-family homes soared to the highest pace since the spring of 2007, as more buyers turned to the new-home market to find homes for sale.
Buyers continue to find higher prices and quick sales. Median existing-home prices continued rising last month, up nearly 16% compared to a year ago. The median existing-home price was $313,000 in October (a year ago prices were at $271,100), NAR reports.
“Considering that we remain in a period of stubbornly high unemployment relative to pre-pandemic levels, the housing sector performed remarkably well this year,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.
Continue… https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2020/11/19/home-sales-are-on-fire-up-27-from-a-year-ago

For the fifth consecutive month, existing-home sales continued to be resilient in the face of the pandemic, climbing nearly 27% compared to a year ago, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday.
Also reported this week, construction of single-family homes soared to the highest pace since the spring of 2007, as more buyers turned to the new-home market to find homes for sale.
Buyers continue to find higher prices and quick sales. Median existing-home prices continued rising last month, up nearly 16% compared to a year ago. The median existing-home price was $313,000 in October (a year ago prices were at $271,100), NAR reports.
“Considering that we remain in a period of stubbornly high unemployment relative to pre-pandemic levels, the housing sector performed remarkably well this year,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.
Continue… https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2020/11/19/home-sales-are-on-fire-up-27-from-a-year-ago

If you’re in the house hunting process right now, there are a lot of things you can do to make sure your new home is a smart one as soon as you move in. But a home can only become as smart as its WiFi is fast. And with many of us working from home, and WiFi built into everything from fridges to doorbells, the availability of high-speed internet is a major selling point when it comes to finding your next place. So the first essential task is to ask about connectivity before you even step foot in the home.

Continue…https://www.realtor.com/sponsored/smart-home-tips/

As the pandemic continues, more home buyers are looking for properties that can house their older family members. The goal for these buyers is to keep their aging family members out of senior living—particularly group setting facilities, which have been on heightened alert during the COVID-19 outbreak. This is translating to the desire for larger homes that can accommodate more family members, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The National Association of REALTORS®’ newly released 2020 Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers showed that buyers purchasing a home since the start of the pandemic have been more likely to purchase a multigenerational home—15% versus 11% who purchased prior to 2020. Home buyers cited multiple reasons, such as the health and caretaking of aging parents and relatives, cost savings, the desire to spend more time with aging parents and relatives, and the need for the delayed independence of children. They also said buying a multigenerational home allowed them to pool multiple incomes to purchase a larger home.

Continue… https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2020/11/16/more-buyers-want-space-for-mom-and-dad

Easy Property Fixes to Prompt a Quick Sale

Small upgrades and aesthetic swaps can make all the difference in drawing buyers to a home.

October 26, 2020 by Danielle Braff

Key takeaways:

• Instead of replacing outdated furnishings, consider paring down decorative distractions to show off the natural attributes of a well-structured space.
• Focus on flourishes in common, small hardware such as doorknobs and handles on kitchen cabinetry.
• If there are significant property defects, play up the home’s backstory to redirect attention to a positive talking point.

---

Despite the thought and preparation that goes into listing a home, the two biggest hurdles to the sale are property photos, which should motivate buyers to request an in-person tour, and the showing, which needs to justify the photos, says Kenny Dahill, CEO and co-founder of Burbz Co., an à la carte property manager platform. Your sellers could do expensive home improvements like a kitchen renovation or a room addition. But how can they complete a project of similar impact without spending thousands? And after the work is done, how do you promote your listing’s new look?

The National Association of REALTORS®’ Remodeling Impact report shows the following are the projects with the highest ROI:

• New roofing: 107%
• New hardwood floors: 106%
• Refinished hardwood floors: 100%

But there are even easier tricks to get houses looking snazzy without spending too much time or money.

Focus on Spaces and Fixtures

Sometimes less is more, says Tamika Todd, a Bermuda-based broker with Platinum Realty.

Todd had a rental listing laden with outdated finish work and furnishings, including 1960s wall tiles and heavy drapery. She suggested that her client open up the space by removing the furnishings so the room contained only a bed, a small desk, and a chair. This helped highlight the depth of the 17-by-17-foot room and the ceiling height of the 750-square-foot loft-style unit. Todd showed the space with sheer curtains, neutral-colored walls, and open windows.

“The transformation definitely made the owner say ‘wow,’ along with every person who viewed it thereafter. It allowed prospects to see the size of the unit and to visualize living in the space without being distracted by the owner’s personal preferences,” Todd says. The owner of the rental originally wanted $1,500 per month in rent, but Todd listed it for $1,700 after the refresh of the unit and received five lease requests.

If your listing has other apparent physical issues that can’t be staged and must be disclosed, amplify the story behind the property to redirect buyers’ attention, Todd suggests. Talk about the family whose children climbed the trees in the backyard, who witnessed a surprise proposal while hosting a family dinner by candlelight, or who welcomed aging parents to join the household. Ideally, you’ll capture these stories on video from the people who lived them and share with potential buyers ahead of their visit to the home, Todd says. “You will find that the people who view the property in person start to feel the story come alive and envision themselves in the space with their own dreams.”

One small, more tangible fix Todd often makes is replacing doorknobs, which are often overlooked. But when chosen correctly, they can attract the eye of a buyer. “Imagine an entry door with a new coat of paint that already catches the eye but stands out even more with a just-as-eye-catching doorknob feature,” she says. For these, she selects ornate, modern doorknobs, or those that are traditional with a hint of flair, to spark intrigue and beckon buyers to wonder what’s inside. Todd instructs her listing photographer to get detail shots of the doorknob so house hunters searching online can see the thoughtfulness put into the welcoming feature of the home.

Swapping out light fixtures and other hardware, such as cabinet handles, is the first step Erik Wright, owner of New Horizon Home Buyers, a real estate investment company in Chattanooga, Tenn., takes before flipping a home. The replacement fixtures and hardware you choose depends on trends in your market. Wright prefers simple, quality light fixtures throughout the home, with just one or two standouts, like a chandelier in an entryway or above the dining table. “Homes in my area usually do well with farmhouse chic or industrial-style fixtures,” Wright says. “Darker metal fixtures that use Edison-style bulbs are some of my favorites.”

If the floors need work, Wright selects an easy-to-install flooring option. His favorite is luxury vinyl plank. “It looks like beautiful hardwood floors while also being much more durable and resistant to water,” Wright says. Once the floor is replaced, Wright makes sure to add “brand-new flooring” to the listing description.

Upgrades and No-Nos

Christina McCaffrey, CRS, broker-owner of Triangle Trusted Realty in Willow Springs, N.C., suggests a surprising property upgrade to her clients: She encourages adding a fence. “It’s a major expense, even if you’re doing the work yourself, but it will be a great asset when you go to sell,” she says. “Homes that have fenced yards tend to sell quickly, and the look is appealing because it makes the yard look bigger.”

In the kitchen, painting the cabinets can do wonders. And if you have older appliances, it’s worth it to swap them out for stainless steel, McCaffrey says. White cabinetry is the preferred look in her area, so she aims for clean and sleek in her kitchens. Swapping out the faucets and adding in solid-surface countertops will also help if clients don’t have the latest look. “An older appliance will make a house look shabby,” McCaffrey says. “You only have one opportunity to ‘wow’ the buyer, so you should think about replacing the worn-out dishwasher with a new stainless one.”

In her market, she says, demand for these items is high, so most sellers recoup the cost of the replacements. However, some fixes shouldn’t be advertised, says Ricardo Mello, co-founder and managing partner at Manhattan Miami, a luxury residential real estate agency with offices in New York and Miami. The first thing buyers see when viewing a listing is the outside of the home, so curb appeal is a big deal. You don’t need to hire a landscaper to make your listing’s outdoor areas shine; small things, such as refreshing mulch, planting seasonal flowers, keeping on top of lawn maintenance, and adding a new doormat, can make an excellent first impression, Mello says.

“I find that making sure these are taken care of definitely results in a better overall impression in photos, which translates to more people opting to view the home in person,” Mello says. “These small changes aren’t something I’d advertise in a listing. I want potential buyers to have the impression that this home has been well cared for versus quickly updated to be on the market.”

Danielle Braff

Danielle Braff is a freelance writer living in Chicago with her husband, two daughters, two cats, and a dog. Learn more about her at DanielleBraff.com.Comment

‘Homework’: The Rise of the Home Office

Families cramped together around a kitchen table, working, and learning online isn’t sustainable for productivity. Now, more home builders and interior designers are carving out workspaces.

October 13, 2020 by Barbara Ballinger

3 Takeaways:

• More builders are looking for ways to meet homeowners’ desire for private workspace.
• One solution for existing homes is to steal off space currently part of a laundry room, pantry, or hallway.
• Almost any variation of a home office will add value to a home.

---

Even before the pandemic, the work-from-home trend was growing in popularity. Improved technology and connectivity are allowing people to be more productive at home as employers have offered greater flexibility. But now that COVID-19 has made working from home even more prevalent—coupled with students learning online—many families are finding themselves crowded around the kitchen table or staking out various nooks to accomplish tasks on their laptops or tablets.

Mary Cook, founder of a Chicago-based commercial interior design firm, Mary Cook Associates, has experienced this challenge firsthand. She took the dining room table for her office in her suburban house; one of her three children claimed the sitting area in the parents’ suite, another picked the furnished basement, and the third chose a table in the family room. Fortunately, Cook’s husband is retired and so doesn’t need to compete for working space.

The finagling has made real estate professionals note the need for more functional, designated work-from-home solutions. This has led to the creation of home offices using two techniques: reconfiguring existing spaces or adding new square footage. These new home office designs vary in size and location—some near the main living space or bedrooms, others in basements or attics. There’s also the trend of outdoor accessory dwelling units if the plot size and local building codes permit them.

In addition, some new homes might soon offer multiple workspace options on different levels, says Jeff Benach, a principal of Lexington Homes, a Chicago-area homebuilder. For years, his firm’s plans have included a flexible space on the main level of their three-story townhome design that some homeowners use as an office.

“With the pandemic, more buyers—maybe 50% more—are interested in that plan because of the potential for having an office or e-learning space,” Benach says. “It’s become a bigger priority, and we’ll include it in more designs and communities.”

The company also offers options in other designs, including a lower-level finished space, a loft near bedrooms on an upper level, and a built-in desk with shelves at the top of a stairway.

Pyatt Builders, based in Carmel, Ind., regularly includes a flexible room in its 2,000-square-foot new homes, which the company is now emphasizing on social media and in its email blasts. “It can work as a home office or remote-learning classroom,” says Todd Pyatt, owner and president. Because of concerns around COVID-19 and more homeowners’ desire for private workspace, the company is considering including both a home office and a space designed with more flexibility in its 2021 construction projects, Pyatt says.

One of the country’s largest homebuilders, Los Angeles–based KB Home, recently redesigned some plans that include a fully outfitted home office.

“It’s the first time we’ve specifically offered a dedicated workspace with a range of options that provide an affordable work-from-home experience,” says Jeffrey Mezger, chairman, president, and CEO. The design features a built-in workstation with cabinet space, open shelving, and an upgraded electrical package. Home buyers can customize the space more with soundproofing, lighting, ceiling fans, window treatments—even with a beverage center, half-bath, and outdoor entry.

“The company will add options to meet clients’ evolving needs,” Mezger says. Two of the company’s California communities will introduce the concept, after which the option will be available nationally.

Recognizing the demand for private conversations, another homebuilder, Toll Brothers, based in Horsham, Penn., is developing matching home offices for couples.

Cook, who designs model homes for the company in several markets, says people tend to speak louder when they are on a call or in an online meeting than they do in person. She also points out that home offices work best with enough counter or desk space to spread out papers and set up equipment. Well-designed offices, she says, should be flexible enough to meet the needs of different family members at different times because most homes aren’t large enough to include a separate office for each person.

However, more important than size is creating a quiet space. Before the pandemic hit, KTGY Architecture + Planning used to design “home management center” desks in high traffic areas. Now the company is brainstorming how to close off those centers. Making a space that could be as small as a phone booth with a door would let residents take a call or have a Zoom meeting in private, says Jonathan Boriack, associate principal in the firm’s Oakland office. “It’s not a place where you’d work all day,” he says. His firm’s other solutions are to steal space from a laundry room, pantry, or hallway. “The challenge is to control noise,” he says.

The good news for homeowners who incorporate almost any variation of a home office is that they may be adding value to their home now and beyond. “Remote work is here to stay,” Boriack says.

---

The Stats

Despite some imperfect workspaces, 86% of North American workers who responded to a March 2020 survey from San Diego–based Global Workplace Analytics, a research and consulting firm, said they felt highly productive working from home, particularly because there were fewer interruptions than in their workplace offices. As the effects of the pandemic have lingered, many workers have been reluctant to return to offices and classrooms, and the work-from-home trend is expected to continue. In a survey from 451 Research, an advisory firm based in New York City, nearly 80% of employers say they’ve established or have expanded their work-from-home policies, and 67% expect those policies to remain in place. Three of the greatest predictors of work-from-home success are self-discipline, high quality remote collaboration, and well-being, according to Global Workplace Analytics.

Barbara Ballinger

Barbara Ballinger is a freelance writer and the author of several books on real estate, architecture, and remodeling, including The Kitchen Bible: Designing the Perfect Culinary Space (Images Publishing, 2014). Barbara’s most recent book is The Garden Bible: Designing Your Perfect Outdoor Space, co-authored with Michael Glassman (Images, 201